


The simulation

by swimmiNgDiNosauR



Series: Melinda May fluff and random stuff [5]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Bahrain, F/M, simulations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-22
Updated: 2018-04-22
Packaged: 2019-04-26 02:31:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14392362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/swimmiNgDiNosauR/pseuds/swimmiNgDiNosauR
Summary: Coulson has a new test for everyone on his team. Melinda doesn't take it well.





	The simulation

Everyone else has done it. Now they’re all staring at her accusingly. She just glares and crosses her arms defensively.

 

*Two days earlier*

 

Melinda stood across from Coulson. She looked at his computer screen again.

“This is a bad idea,” she tried to reason. “No one is going to want to do this.”

“I’m the Director,” Coulson smiled.

When he broached the topic with them later at dinner, there was a mixture of scepticism and agreement. Skye was all for it, even thought it might be fun. Bobbi and Hunter were neutral, both of them having no say in the matter. Mack was slightly sceptical but soon agreed after he was told they were allowed to watch each other after they’d done it. Jemma thought it would be good for science purposes. Fitz agreed with Jemma.

Melinda kept silent, scowling at the table.

“So, from May’s face, I take it she doesn’t want to?” Skye said.

Coulson smiled guilelessly. “I’m the Director.”

“Yeah and I can kick your ass,” Melinda snapped. She had her own reasons for not wanting to do it. She'd tried to give Phil hints but he was useless for once, not picking up on anything.

 

*Present day*

 

“May, come on,” Skye wheedles. “It’ll be fun. It's not even real.”

Melinda raises her eyebrows. “Right. _Fun_.”

“So you can’t calm a child down?” Hunter asks, trying to bait her.

“I know what you’re doing,” Melinda says. She could kick herself for choosing to stand the furthest away from the door. And for the record, she couldn’t.

Coulson chooses that moment to come in. He smiles at her. “Agent May, if you could enter the room peacefully, please.”

“No, thank you, _Phil_ ,” she scowls.

“The following will happen,” he says. “You’ll go into the room. The instructions will be spoken out loud to you. Unless you’d like a paper copy? Agent Simmons will inject you with the simulation which will begin as soon as she leaves the room. A little girl will appear. You have to calm her down. The reason for this is if a child comes into one of our missions and they’re upset, we’ll need to know who to send in.”

He’s obviously not thinking properly. That, or he has a plan that involves her facing her past. He’s so dead. She’s going to kill him. She gives him her darkest glare.

“Mack, if you could escort Agent May into the room, please,” Coulson orders while smiling.

Mack moves over to Melinda and grabs her elbow. He escorts her into the room. Jemma follows quickly, holding the simulation in a syringe. She sticks it in Melinda’s arm and mumbles an apology. Mack holds the door open for Jemma and they hurry out, locking it behind them.

The simulation starts. Melinda mutters a curse in Mandarin. A little girl appears in the corner. She looks about eight and is wearing jeans and green Hulk T-shirt. She’s bleeding. Melinda finds the source of the blood. A cut on her shoulder. She moves over to the girl who cowers away from her, screaming.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” she snaps. “You’re bleeding. I can help.”

The girl shakes her head. “Help!”

“Do you want the pain to go away?” Melinda asks.

The girl nods, chin trembling.

Melinda pulls her gun from the holster on her thigh and shoots her in the head. She screams and then disappears. The door bursts open and Coulson comes running in. Melinda drops the gun on the floor.

“What the _hell_ was that?” he asks angrily. “You just shot a little girl.”

“She wasn’t real,” Melinda shrugs. “I did your stupid simulation. Can I go now?”

“ _Melinda_!”

Melinda throws her hands up in the air. “For the love of God! She wasn’t real!”

“Well, we know who _not_ to send in,” Hunter says from the doorway.

“Simmons, get another simulation,” Coulson orders, frowning at Melinda.

“But I’ve already done it,” Melinda protests.

“You did not. I said to calm her down, not shoot her,” Coulson rolls his eyes. “Give me your weapons.”

Melinda kicks the gun towards him. She hands him two knives, another gun and a hairpin.

“All of them,” Coulson says, raising his eyebrows.

Melinda sighs and hands him the small knife in the sole of her boot. She hands it to him crossly.

“Now,” Coulson says. “You are going to calm her down. You will not harm her in any way. Understood?”

“Perfectly,” Melinda mutters.

Jemma comes in with a syringe. She jabs it into the inside of Melinda’s elbow and hurries out of the room, Coulson right behind her. They crowd around the one-way mirror to watch.

Melinda glowers at the little girl in the corner of the room. She’s about nine, wearing shorts and a red long-sleeved shirt. Her nose has been bleeding but it’s stopped now.

“Phil,” Melinda complains, looking at the mirror. She slumps against the wall, sliding down it until she’s sitting on the floor.

The girl eyes her cautiously, wiping her nose.

Melinda just glares at her, staying silent.

“Hi,” the girl tries. “Are you here to help me?”

Melinda gives her a disbelieving look. “You aren’t real.”

The girl screams and tears dribble down her chin. “ _Help_!” She presses herself further into the corner.

Melinda glares at her and stays silent for twenty minutes. During that time, she curses Phil to hell and back. The girl is still screaming. She sighs and glares at the ceiling. How can such a small child make so much noise? _And_ for twenty minutes non-stop.

The speaker in the room crackles to life. Coulson’s voice comes through it.

“If you don’t complete this training exercise properly, I’m calling Andrew for a psych evaluation,” he threatens.

Melinda ramps up her glare but she moves over to the girl and sits in front of her, cross-legged, hands in front of her.

“You’re bleeding,” Melinda states.

The girl stops screaming long enough to roll her eyes. “Thanks for that, Captain Obvious.”

Melinda feels her lip curving upwards and stops herself. She leans against the wall next to the girl. If she’s going to do this, she may as well be comfortable.

She’s about to say something reassuring, maybe, “It’ll be okay,” or something like that but the girl beats her to it.

“I’m scared,” she cries.

Melinda’s blood runs cold.

The girl sniffs. “I want to go home,” she complains. 

Melinda stands up abruptly and goes over to the mirror. “Phil, I’m not doing this,” she says, pleased when she keeps her voice from trembling. She can’t see anything on the other side of the mirror. “Phil, _please_ ,” she begs.

On the other side of the mirror, Coulson sighs. He should’ve known. He unlocks the door and Melinda walks out, holding herself stiffly.

“Why didn’t you complete it?” Coulson asks without thinking.

Melinda shrugs and looks at the floor without answering.

“That’s not good enough,” Coulson says. “It was a training exercise. Why didn’t you do it?”

“Just send someone else in,” Melinda mutters. She really doesn’t want to answer these questions. Her team is looking at her in confusion. They don’t understand.

“And what if everyone else is somewhere else?” Coulson asks.

“I don’t know,” Melinda snaps. “You go.”

“And if I’m not there?”

Melinda shrugs again.

“What if you’re the only person there and there’s a little girl being held captive? What then?”

“Get her out.” Finally, a question she can answer.

“And if her screaming is alerting the attackers to your position?”

“Knock her out,” Melinda suggests.

“Right and give her even more reason to trust her,” Coulson says sarcastically. “How would you calm her down? Why won’t you?”

“Because the last time I tried that I killed her!” Melinda snarls.

There’s an awkward silence. Melinda sets her jaw and crosses her arms warily.

Oh. Oh, he’s so stupid. Bahrain. Of course. It’s so obvious now. He sighs.

“Bahrain,” he says quietly. “That’s what this is about, isn’t it?”

Melinda buries herself in his arms. He feels her shaking and wishes he could erase all of her hurt. He wraps his arms around her and rests his chin on the top of her head. She nods against his shirt.

“I’m sorry,” he apologises. “I didn’t think.”

Melinda wipes her eyes. She sniffs.

“’S fine,” she mumbles.

“No, it’s not,” he says against her hair. “I should’ve known.”

Out of the corner of his eyes, he sees Bobbi pushing his team from the room. He smiles gratefully at her. She nods at him and shuts the door.

Melinda breaks down then, trembling in his arms. He rubs circles on her back.

“I’m so sorry,” he says again.

She hiccups. Her hands clutch his shirt tightly. He continues rubbing circles.

“I’ll make it up to you,” he promises. “If you want, you can tease me about Tahiti? Or my hand?”

Melinda half-snorts, half-sobs. “They pulled the top of your head off.”

Coulson winces. “Alright. Did not need to know that.”

She manages a smile, albeit with red eyes. “You didn’t even invite me with you.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Coulson smiles. “You aren’t dying on my watch.”

“You don’t have a watch. Jemma said you couldn’t put it on your new hand,” Melinda smiles.

“That was so mean,” Coulson complains. “I don’t know why I let her get away with so much.”

“Phil’s in looove,” Melinda sings mockingly.

“With Simmons?” Coulson asks. “Yuck. She’s Fitz’s.”

“The third wheel,” Melinda grins.

“I should just keep my mouth shut,” Coulson mutters but he’s glad Melinda’s feeling better.

“That would be preferable. I don’t wanna taste your disgusting toothpaste,” Melinda tells him with an innocent smile. He’s left staring at her in confusion before she kisses him, closed mouth.

“My toothpaste isn’t disgusting,” is the only thing he can think to say when she pulls away.

Melinda snorts.

“It’s peppermint flavoured.”


End file.
